Atlanta Braves (NASDAQ:BATRA) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of Atlanta Braves (BATRA) hit a new 52-week high at $54.58 (last $54.47) during Thursday trading, though the stock was reported trading down about 0.8% afterward.
• Analysts are split: Zacks upgraded to a Strong Buy, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a Sell (D-), and MarketBeat's consensus remains a Hold with a $45 price target—below the current share price.
• The company beat quarterly estimates (EPS -$0.28 vs. -$0.74 expected; revenue $61.3M vs. $54.93M expected), and major shareholder John C. Malone purchased 35,000 shares, raising his stake to 521,862 shares.

Shares of Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BATRA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.58 and last traded at $54.47, with a volume of 14852 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BATRA. Zacks Research raised shares of Atlanta Braves from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Atlanta Braves in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Atlanta Braves Trading Down 0.8%

The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -137.02 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $48.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Atlanta Braves (NASDAQ:BATRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.74) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $61.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.93 million. Atlanta Braves had a negative net margin of 3.19% and a positive return on equity of 0.08%. Equities analysts anticipate that Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atlanta Braves news, major shareholder John C. Malone acquired 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $44.23 per share, for a total transaction of $1,548,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 521,862 shares in the company, valued at $23,081,956.26. The trade was a 7.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanta Braves

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Atlanta Braves during the fourth quarter worth about $3,252,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Atlanta Braves by 4.5% in the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 864,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,300,000 after purchasing an additional 36,995 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanta Braves during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,022,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Atlanta Braves during the third quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atlanta Braves by 44.4% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 950 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.31% of the company's stock.

Atlanta Braves Company Profile

The Atlanta Braves NASDAQ: BATRA are a professional baseball club that competes in Major League Baseball's National League East division. Founded in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings, the franchise relocated to Milwaukee in 1953 before settling in Atlanta in 1966. As one of MLB's oldest and most storied organizations, the Braves are responsible for fielding a Major League team, overseeing player development through a network of minor league affiliates, and managing baseball operations under the leadership of President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos.

Beyond on‐field performance, the Braves operate a diversified sports and entertainment business.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.